Wilson Shieh: Chop Suey 2008-2022

EVENT DESCRIPTION

JPS Gallery is honoured to present Wilson Shieh “Chop Suey 2008-2022”, the artist’s first solo exhibition with our gallery in Hong Kong. Wilson Shieh’s unparalleled artisanal skills and ability to modernise the quintessence of traditional Chinese art makes him one of the most prominent artists in Hong Kong. Bringing together works from 2008 to 2022, this exhibition will provide an overview of Shieh’s evolution as an artist while he expands his practice by working with different mediums and integrating contemporary imagery inspired by Hong Kong’s local pop culture into his works.

“Chop Suey” refers to a dish in American Chinese cuisine consisting of meat, egg and vegetables stir-fried in corn-starch-thickened sauce. The diversity of ingredients in this dish manifests this exhibition’s central theme, a visual testimony of all the phases and salient moments of Shieh’s artistic evolution over the past fourteen years.

He began practising gongbi in 1992 and has since become widely recognised for using this traditional fine-brush technique to paint contemporary figurative imageries. And in 2008, Shieh started to expand his practice by utilising various mediums. Ranging from pencil drawings, digital print collages, oil and acrylic on canvas, the presented works continue to illustrate contemporary scenes in his signature style, allowing viewers to witness Hong Kong’s cultural background morph over time through the artist’s practice.

The Four Seasons series began as gongbi ink paintings, which Shieh developed into colour pencils on archival cardboard works where he renders his signature brushwork with colour pencils. Breaking down a human figure into a limited number of visual elements—costume, hairstyle and accessory— Four Seasons Women 四季女人 (2015) and Four Seasons Men 四季男人 (2022) demonstrate how conscious dressing and simple details can construct an identity.Whilst his nostalgic Paper Doll series portrays Hong Kong’s pop and cultural icons, such as Samuel Pang in An Autumn’s Tale, Hui Man Keung in The Bund and Su Li Zhen in In the Mood for Love, allowing viewers to relive these unforgettable scenes from these classic movies. In addition, the Mix Tape series reflects Shieh’s addiction to pop music during his teenage years. Some of the greatest 1980’s hit songs include Uptown Girl by Billy Joel, and Girls Just Want To Have Fun by Cyndi Lauper.

This retrospective exhibition is an amalgamation of Shieh’s artistic oeuvre from 2008 to 2022 and a unique chance for viewers to investigate Hong Kong’s cultural background to learn what goes into the making of today’s Hong Kong identity.

ABOUT THE ARTIST / ORGANISER

Wilson Shieh transfers his intricate Chinese fine-brush, gongbi, painting technique to his various media of choice, ranging from ink on silk, acrylic on canvas to paper cutout collage, filtering the traditional Chinese ink painting through a contemporary lens.

Best known for his figurative paintings, Shieh uses traditional brushwork techniques to depict themes and narratives derived from the popular culture of East Asia and his immediate environment in Hong Kong. In his acclaimed Architectural Series, Shieh transforms the Hong Kong skyscrapers into figures donning tailor-made costumes. Through his narrative of human bodies, Shieh inquiries the issues of modern identity in an often humorous light.

Born in Hong Kong, Shieh earned a Fine Arts BA and MFA degree from the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1994 and 2001, respectively. He participated in numerous local and overseas exhibitions, including the Third Asia-Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Brisbane in 1999. His works are featured in institutional collections worldwide, including Hong Kong Museum of Art; M+, Hong Kong; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford University; and Asian Art Museum, San Francisco. The artist lives and works in Hong Kong.